Double hook snap fit for electronic housing

ABSTRACT

A mountable circuit assembly is provided. The mountable circuit assembly may be a remote sensor assembly for mounting on body panel of a vehicle assembly. The assembly may include a sensor circuit, a housing and a mounting portion. The housing may include a cavity for receiving the sensor circuit. The housing may include first and second locking features. The first locking feature may be on an opposite side of a lock opening from the second locking feature. The mounting portion may be configured to lock into the body panel opening in the body panel. The mounting portion may have a post such that the first locking feature and the second locking feature engage the mounting portion inside the one or more post openings to fasten the housing to the mounting portion. The first and second locking features may be aligned to reduce deflection of the post during insertion.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The present application generally relates to a mountable circuitassembly.

2. Description of Related Art

Mountable circuit assemblies may include a housing for protecting acircuit within the assembly. One example of a mountable circuit assemblyincludes remote sensing units for mounting on body assemblies withinvehicles. The remote sensing units may mount directly to the bodyassembly or to mounting portions which then attach to the body assembly.

SUMMARY

A mountable circuit assembly is provided. The mountable circuit assemblymay be a remote sensor assembly for mounting on a body panel (e.g. sheetmetal or plastic panel) of a vehicle assembly. The assembly may includea sensor circuit, a housing and a mounting portion. The housing mayinclude a cavity for receiving the sensor circuit. The housing mayinclude first and second locking features. The first locking feature maybe on an opposite side of a lock opening from the second lockingfeature. The mounting portion may be configured to lock into the bodypanel opening in the body panel. The mounting portion may have a postsuch that the first locking feature and the second locking featureengage the mounting portion inside the lock opening to fasten thehousing to the mounting portion. The first and second locking featuresmay be aligned to reduce deflection of the post during insertion.

Further objects, features, and advantages of this application willbecome readily apparent to persons skilled in the art after a review ofthe following description, with reference to the drawings and claimsthat are appended to and form a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a housing and a mounting portion mountedto a body panel component.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an electronics housing, mounting portion,and locking portion.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mounting portion.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the engagement of the lockingmechanisms with the posts.

FIG. 5 is a more detailed view of the cross-section of the first lockingmechanism.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the interaction between a locking mechanismand a post.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the interaction between another lockingmechanism and a post.

FIG. 8A is an illustration of the force applied by one of the lockingfeatures as the post is inserted into a locking mechanism.

FIG. 8B is an illustration of the force that the post applies to alocking mechanism.

FIG. 9A is an illustration of the torque applied to the post if only onelocking feature is engaged during a removal attempt.

FIG. 9B is an illustration of the forces applied to the post when bothlocking features are engaging the post during a removal attempt.

FIG. 9C is an illustration of the interaction of a locking mechanismwith a modified post.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a multi-featured post having alternatingcontact points to minimize the displacement of all components.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating the deflection if a single lockingfeature is utilized to engage the post.

FIG. 12 is a graph illustrating the displacement of each wall and thepost for the implementation illustrated in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The integrity of the mechanical connection between a mountable circuitassembly, such as a remote sensing unit, and the vehicle can beimportant to the functioning of the unit. The remote sensing unit mayinclude various sensing electronics, for example pressure sensors,accelerometers, gyroscopes, temperature sensors or other known sensingelectronics. For some units, such as accelerometers and gyroscopesmaintaining the orientation and position of the unit relative to thevehicle can be necessary to provide proper readings. Accordingly, thedesign of the mechanisms that secure the mountable circuit assemblies tothe vehicle may be designed to minimize the deflection of posts and/orother features with locking mechanisms so as to preserve structuralintegrity. Further, the design may be used to enable various strategiesto distribute the force used to secure the housing of the assembly tothe vehicle. In some implementations, this may allow distributing thesurface area that engages the housing to the vehicle. Multiple lockingmechanisms may interact at different locations and/or orientations toimprove engagement while reducing damage to the integrity of thestructure when the locking mechanisms are forced into position. In someexamples, this could be by minimizing deflection of a post. In someexamples, this could be by distributing the deflection to minimizeoverall deflection between locking mechanisms and a post.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a housing and a mounting portion mountedto a body panel component. While the implementation shown in FIG. 1.Illustrates a twist lock arrangement, other arrangements contemplated bythis disclosure such as snap lock arrangements or even where the housinglocks directly to a locking portion on the opposite side of the bodypanel component. The housing 110 (e.g. an electronics housing, such as aremote sensor housing) is fixed to the mounting portion 102 for example,by snap-fit details. The mounting portion 102 is then attached to thebody panel for example, by engaging a locking portion through an openingin the body panel 104. The locking portion may be on the opposite sideof the body panel from the mounting portion such that as the mountingportion engages the locking portion, both the locking portion andmounting portion are fixed relative to the body panel thereby alsoaffixing the position and orientation of the housing 110 relative to thebody panel 104.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an electronics housing, mounting portion,and locking portion. The housing 110 may include a cavity 112 forreceiving electronics, for example sensor electronics. As such, thesubstrate 141 and chip 140 (e.g. sensor chip) may be received into thecavity 112, then a gasket or sealant may be placed into the cavity overthe chip 140 and the substrate 141 to seal and protect the substrate 141and chip 140. An optional connector 114 may allow other vehicleelectronics to communicate with the substrate 141 and/or chip 140 sealedin the cavity 112. An optional gasket (not shown) may be sealed againstthe mounting portion 102 when the housing 110 is locked onto themounting portion 102. In one example, a locking portion may engage themounting portion 102, fixing the mounting portion 102 to a body panelassembly. The mounting portion 102 may have posts that are locked intolocking mechanisms 120. The locking mechanisms 120 may each include afirst locking feature 124 extending from the wall (shown as 212 in FIG.4) of the housing 110 and second locking feature 126 extending from across-member 122 of the locking mechanism 120. As such, the posts fromthe mounting portion 102 may be locked into place when the first andsecond locking features engage the posts. Some locking mechanisms mayhave support members including side support members (shown as 224 inFIG. 4) and end support members (shown as 214 in FIG. 4) extending fromthe wall to the cross-member while other locking mechanisms may haveonly a cross-member 122, for example, the front locking mechanism 120.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mounting portion 102. The mountingportion 102 may include posts 150 that may be engaged by the lockingmechanisms 120 of the housing 110. The posts 150 may have differentsizes and shapes such that only one orientation of the housing 110relative to the mounting portion 102 will allow the housing 110 to belocked onto the mounting portion 102 thereby controlling the positionand orientation of the housing 110 relative to the body panel assembly.For example, post 152 may be the front post and interface with a frontlocking mechanism of the housing 110. The elongated nature of the post152 would not be received by a locking mechanism with cross-members.Additionally, post 156 may be not as long as other posts and thereforemay fit into a smaller locking mechanism to control the orientation ofthe housing. Additional posts 154 and 158 may have the same or differentshapes as needed to affix the housing 110 the mounting portion 102. Theposts 150 may include post openings 160. The post openings 160 may beengaged by the first and second locking features 124,126 within thelocking mechanisms 120.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, with the substrate and sensor removedfor clarity, showing the engagement of the locking mechanisms with theposts. The housing 110 is shown with a first locking mechanism 210 and asecond locking mechanism 221. The first locking mechanism 210 includes afirst locking feature 220 extending from a housing wall 212 and a secondlocking feature 218 extending from a cross-member 216. An end supportmember 214 may connect the cross-member 216 with the housing wall 212.The first locking feature 220 and the second locking feature 218 mayengage an opening 260 in the post 240 of the mounting portion 102.

The second locking mechanism 221 may be located on an opposite side ofthe housing 110 and may include a first locking feature 230 extendingfrom the wall 222 and a second locking feature 228 extending fromcross-member 226. Cross-member 226 may be supported by a side supportmember 224 connecting the cross-member 226 to the housing wall 222. Thefirst and second locking features 230, 228 may engage a post opening 260in the post 242 of the mounting portion 102 thereby affixing thelocation of the remote sensor housing 110 relative the mounting portion102.

FIG. 5 is a more detailed view of the cross-section of the first lockingmechanism 300. The post 342 of the mounting portion 102 is inserted intothe lock opening 324 of the locking mechanism 300. The tip portion 348of the post 342 may be chamfered or triangular in shape. As the post 342is inserted into the lock opening 324, the tip portion 348 of the post342 pushes against the locking features 330 and 320. The lockingfeatures 320 and 330 may include ramped surfaces that interact withramped surfaces on the tip portion 348 that assist in deflecting thelocking features 320 and 330 during insertion. This may cause a force tobe applied to the cross-member 326 and 322 wall of the housing 110. Thepost 342 includes a post opening 344 that allows the locking features330 and 320 to extend into and engage the post 342, thereby locking theremote sensor housing 110 to the mounting portion 102. By having asymmetric locking features 330, 320 as well as centering post 342 withinthe lock opening 324, an equal force may be exerted between the post 342and each locking feature 320, 330. By exerting equal force between thepost 342 and the first and second locking feature 320, 330, the stresson the lower portion 346 of the post 342 is minimized and maximumstructural integrity of the post is maintained. The design can providethat a shifting of the post 342 toward or away from one of the lockingfeatures 320, 330 (e.g. horizontally in the FIG. 5.) maintains that thecombined overlap of the first and second locking features 320, 330 withthe post 342 remains the same.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the interaction between a locking mechanism400 and a post 442 of a mounting portion 402. The locking mechanism 400may be partially formed by a wall 412 of the sensor housing unit. Alocking feature 420 may extend from the wall 412 into a lock opening 422of the locking mechanism 400. The locking mechanism 400 may also includea cross-member 416 that may be attached to the wall 412 by an endsupport member 414. The cross-member 416 may include a locking feature418 that extends into the lock opening 422 opposite the locking feature420. The locking feature 418 may have the same shape and may besymmetric to locking feature 420. The locking feature 418 may be alignedvertically (e.g. along the direction of post insertion) with lockingfeature 420. Further, each of locking mechanisms 418 and 420 may extendthe same distance into the lock opening 422 such that an equal forcewill be applied to the tip 448 of the post 442 as the post 442 isinserted past the locking features 418, 420 into the lock opening 422.As such, the equal force applied by locking feature 418 and lockingfeature 420 to the post 442. This can reduce any torque or deformationon the lower portion 446 of the post 442 as the tip 448 is inserted intothe lock opening 422.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the interaction between locking mechanism500 and post 542 of mounting portion 502. The locking mechanism 500 maybe partially formed by a wall 512 of the sensor housing unit 510. Alocking feature 520 may extend into a lock opening 522 of the lockingmechanism 500. The locking mechanism 500 may also include a cross-member516 that may be attached to the wall 512 by an end support member 514.The cross-member 516 may include a locking feature 518 that extends intothe lock opening 522 opposite the locking feature 520. The lockingfeature 518 may be aligned vertically (e.g. along the direction of postinsertion) with locking feature 520. The cross-member 516 may include anopening 530 such that the locking mechanism 518 may be a partiallyindependent extension from the cross-member 516 allowing greaterflexibility as the post 542 is inserted into the lock opening 522. Thegreater flexibility of the locking mechanism 500 may mean that the sameamount of force may be applied to the post 542 while the lockingmechanism 518 may extend further into lock opening 522 than lockingmechanism 520. As such, the greater deformation of the motion of thelocking mechanism 518 may be illustrated by the longer arrow 532 ascompared to the arrow 534 illustrating the deformation of the lockingmechanism 520 attached to the wall 512.

FIG. 8A illustrates the effect of the force applied by one of thelocking features as the post is inserted into a locking mechanism. Thelocking feature may apply force to the tip 848 of the post 842 of themounting portion 802. The force 850 is applied until the post 842 isinserted far enough such that the locking feature snaps into the opening844 in the post 842. In this implementation, the force is absorbedprimarily by the post 842 which absorbs most of the force causingdeflection of the post 812 and possible degradation. Yet, the post hassignificantly less support than, for example, a locking feature that isformed as part of the wall.

FIG. 8B illustrates the force that the post applies to a lockingmechanism. The force 810 is created by the post 842 being inserted intothe lock opening 820 of the locking mechanism. The housing wall 816 maybe thicker than the rest of the locking mechanism and therefore mayprovide more support and deflect less than other portions of the lockingmechanism. For example, the cross-member 812 may be thinner than thewall 816 and therefore may flex more than the wall 816 even though it issupported by support members 822 and 824. Yet, support members 822, 824make the cross-member 812 less susceptible to degradation than the post842.

FIG. 9A illustrates the torque applied to the post if only one lockingfeature is engaged during a removal attempt. If the locking feature 920of the wall 912 is the only locking feature engaged, than the post 942of the mounting portion 902 is pulled against the locking feature 920 inan attempt to remove the post 942 from the locking mechanism 920. Theforce 922 caused by the locking feature 920 against a peripheral walldefining a perimeter of the opening 944 in the post 942 generates atorque 950 against the tip 948 of the post 942 which may damage orcompromise the structural integrity of the post 942 as it is pulledagainst in an attempt to be removed.

FIG. 9B illustrates forces applied to the post when both lockingfeatures are engaging the post during a removal attempt. The lockingmechanism 900 may be partially formed by a wall 912 of the sensorhousing unit. A locking feature 920 may extend into a lock opening 921of the locking mechanism 900. The locking mechanism 900 may also includea cross-member 916 that may be attached to the wall 912 by an endsupport member 914. The cross-member 916 may include a locking feature918 that extends into the lock opening 922 opposite the locking feature920.

When the post 942 is pulled during removal, the first locking feature920 causes a first force 922 to be applied against the tip 948 of thepost 942 and at the same time, the second locking feature 918 causes asecond force 924 to be applied to the tip 948 of the post 942. The force922 and the force 924 both being applied to the tip 948 of the post 942have a cancelling affect in the plane perpendicular to the postdirection thereby causing a net cancellation of any torque asillustrated by reference number 926.

FIG. 9C illustrates the interaction of a locking mechanism 950 with amodified post. The post 942 has a first recess 962 and a second recess964. A support portion 960 runs between the first recess 962 and thesecond recess 964. The first recess 962 aligns with locking feature 918and the second recess 964 aligns with the locking feature 920.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a multi-featured post having alternatingcontact points to minimize the displacement of all components. Thelocking mechanism 1010 includes a first wall 1012 and a second wall 1014(which may be a cross-member as discussed with regard to the previousfigures). The post 1020 may be inserted into a lock opening 1016 of thelocking mechanism. The lock opening 1016 may be formed by the first wall1012 and the second wall 1014. The first wall 1012 may include multiplelocking features, for example, locking feature 1032, locking feature1036, and locking feature 1040. The post 1020 may have correspondingengagement features 1052, engagement feature 1056, and engagementfeature 1060. The second wall 1014 may include multiple locking featuresincluding locking feature 1030, locking feature 1034, and lockingfeature 1038. The post 1020 may have corresponding engagement featuresincluding engagement feature 1050, engagement feature 1054, andengagement feature 1058.

Engagement features on a first side of the post 1020 (e.g., 1052, 1056,1060) may be offset from engagement features on a second side of thepost 1020 (e.g., 1050, 1054, 1058). Therefore, the locking features ofthe first wall 1012 and the corresponding engagement features on thepost 1020 may engage in an alternating fashion. For example, lockingfeature 1032 and locking feature 1040 may not engage engaging feature1052 and engaging feature 1060, respectively, while locking feature 1036may engage engaging feature 1056. Further, the locking features of thesecond wall 1014 and the corresponding engagement features on the post1020 may also engage in an alternating fashion. For example, lockingfeature 1030 and locking feature 1038 may engage engaging feature 1050and engaging feature 1058, respectively, while locking feature 1034 maynot engage engaging feature 1054.

Additionally, the engaging features on one side of the post may bealigned to correspond with engaging features on an opposite side of thepost, which may alternately engage the locking features on opposingwalls. For example, locking feature 1030 will engage engaging feature1050 while locking feature 1032 will not engage engaging feature 1052.For example, locking feature 1034 will not engage engaging feature 1054while locking feature 1036 will engage engaging feature 1056,additionally, locking feature 1038 will engage engaging feature 1058while locking feature 1040 will not engage engaging feature 1060. Inthis design, the alternating locking features may be slightly offsetrelative to the corresponding engagement features. This could be due toa change in the periodicity of the locking features, engaging featuresof both. As such, each locking feature may engage the post at adifferent position along the longitudinal axis (e.g. along the directionof insertion) of the post to fasten the housing to the mounting portion.

Also, the locking features may be classified into one or more groups.For example, post may include a first group of engaging features thatalign with the first group of locking features and a second group ofengaging features that align with the second group of locking features.For example, the first group of locking features may include lockingfeatures 1030, 1036, 1038 and the first group of engaging features mayinclude engaging features 1050, 1056, 1058, while the second group oflocking features may include locking features 1032, 1034, 1040 and thesecond group of engaging features may include engaging features 1052,1054, and 1060. Further, the interference of the post and the firstgroup of locking features may deflect the post in a first direction andinterference of the post and the second group of locking featuresdeflect the post in a second direction causing the post to alternatebetween deflecting in the first and second directions as the post isinserted into the lock opening. In some implementations, the first groupof locking features may be configured to apply an equal amount ofpressure to the post as the second group of locking features. Although,each group may apply a different amount of pressure at different timesbased an offset between the groups. The first group of locking featuresmay be aligned to be disengaged from the post when the second group oflocking features are engaged with the post and, similarly, the secondgroup of locking features may be aligned to be disengaged from the postwhen the first group of locking features are engaged with the post.Accordingly, the deflection of the post and the two snap lock featuresis minimized.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating the deflection if a single lockingfeature is utilized to engage the post. The displacement of the post isillustrated as line 1110 and the displacement of the locking feature isillustrated as line 1112. As can be seen in FIG. 11, the displacement ofthe locking feature may be opposite to the displacement in the post. Thedisplacement may be equal in distance or the post may be displaced adifferent distance than the locking feature.

FIG. 12 illustrates the displacement of each wall and the post in theimplementation illustrated in FIG. 10. The displacement of the post isillustrated by line 1210, the displacement of the first wall isillustrated by a line 1212 and the displacement of the second wall isillustrated by line 1214. In this instance, the displacement is reducedas the displacement is minimized among each of the three components suchthat the structural integrity is maintained and degradation is minimizedthrough minimizing the displacement of each component.

As a person skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the abovedescription is meant as an illustration of the principles of thisapplication. This description is not intended to limit the scope orapplication of the claim in that the assembly is susceptible tomodification, variation and change, without departing from spirit ofthis application, as defined in the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A mountable sensor assembly for mounting onbody panel of a vehicle assembly, the body panel having a body panelopening for mounting the mountable sensor assembly, the mountable sensorassembly comprising: a sensor circuit; a housing comprising a cavitythat receives the sensor circuit, the housing comprising a first lockingfeature and a second locking feature on opposites sides of a lockopening; and a mounting portion configured to lock into the body panelopening in the body panel, the mounting portion having a post with atleast one post opening such that both the first locking feature and thesecond locking feature extend into and engage the at least one postopening formed in the post of the mounting portion to fasten the housingto the mounting portion, the first locking feature and the secondlocking feature being aligned to reduce deflection of the post duringinsertion.
 2. The mountable sensor assembly according to claim 1,wherein the first locking feature extends from a wall of the housinginto the lock opening.
 3. The mountable sensor assembly according toclaim 2, wherein the second locking feature extends from a cross-memberinto the lock opening.
 4. The mountable sensor assembly according toclaim 3, wherein the cross-member is located across the lock openingfrom the wall of the housing.
 5. The mountable sensor assembly accordingto claim 4, wherein the second locking feature is located across thelock opening opposite from the first locking feature.
 6. The mountablesensor assembly according to claim 1, wherein the post is configured toinsert into the lock opening.
 7. The mountable sensor assembly accordingto claim 6, wherein the post is configured to insert into the lockopening in only one orientation of the housing relative to the mountingportion.
 8. The mountable sensor assembly according to claim 6, whereinthe first locking feature is configured to apply an equal amount ofpressure to the post as the second locking feature thereby reducingdeflection of the post.
 9. The mountable sensor assembly according toclaim 8, wherein the first locking feature extends into the lock openingan equal distance as the second locking feature.
 10. The mountablesensor assembly according to claim 8, wherein the first locking featureis configured to flex an equal amount to the second locking feature whenthe post is inserted into the lock opening.
 11. The mountable sensorassembly according to claim 3, wherein the cross-member is attached tothe wall by a first side support member at one end of the lock openingand by a second side support member at an opposite end of the lockopening.
 12. A sensor housing for engaging a post for mounting thesensor housing to vehicle assembly, the sensor housing comprising: acavity that receives a sensor circuit, a first locking feature; and asecond locking feature on an opposite side of a lock opening from thefirst locking feature, the lock opening being configured to receive thepost, both the first and second locking features extending into andengaging in at least one post opening formed in the post.
 13. The sensorhousing according to claim 12, wherein the first locking feature isconfigured to apply an equal amount of pressure in an opposite directionto the post as the second locking feature.
 14. The sensor housingaccording to claim 13, wherein the first locking feature extends from awall of the housing into the lock opening.
 15. The sensor housingaccording to claim 14, wherein the second locking feature extends from across-member into the lock opening.
 16. The sensor housing according toclaim 15, wherein the cross-member is located across the lock openingfrom the wall of the housing.
 17. The sensor housing according to claim16, wherein first locking feature and the second locking feature arepositioned such that a shifting of the post toward or away from one ofthe first or second locking features maintains the combined overlap ofthe first and second locking features with the post.
 18. The sensorhousing according to claim 17, wherein the cross-member is attached tothe wall by a first side support member at one end of the lock openingand by a second side support member at an opposite end of the lockopening.
 19. A mountable sensor assembly for mounting on body panel of avehicle assembly, the body panel having a body panel opening formounting the mountable sensor assembly, the mountable sensor assemblycomprising: a sensor circuit; and a housing comprising a cavity thatreceives the sensor circuit, the housing comprising first lockingfeature and a second locking feature on opposites sides of a lockopening; and a mounting portion configured to lock into the body panelopening in the body panel, the mounting portion having a post with atleast one post opening such that the first locking feature and thesecond locking feature engage the at least one post opening formed inthe post of the mounting portion to fasten the housing to the mountingportion, wherein the first locking feature is configured to apply anequal force to the post in an opposite direction as the second lockingfeature to reduce torque on the post.
 20. The mountable sensor assemblyaccording to claim 19, wherein the first locking feature extends from awall of the housing into the lock opening and the second locking featureextends from a cross-member into the lock opening, the cross-memberbeing attached to the wall by a first support at one end of the lockopening and attached to the wall by a second support at an opposite endof the lock opening.